 "Titan acquires majority stake in Chennai-based online jewellery firm Carat Lane")
Titan, in an announcement to the exchanges said that it has acquired Carat Lane, which is involved in the business of designing, manufacturing, trading and retailing of gems and jewellery and the financial details will be furnished once the due diligence is completed.
The exact stake that Titan Company will take in Carat Lane and the valuation are currently under discussion and details will be shared on signing of definitive documents, it said. The transaction is expected to be consummated by the middle of June 2016.
Titan has commented that this is an acquisition of a leading brand in the online jewellery industry catering to a different segment of customers with significant internal capabilities in design, manufacturing technology and e-commerce.
"Synergies with the jewellery business of the company is very high," it added.
Bhaskar Bhat, managing director of Titan said, "For Titan, the acquisition brings significant capabilities in the e-commerce space along with a brand, a customer segment and a business model that are very exciting."
"This is a dream come true for me. Coming from a family of jewelers, I have been looking at working with Titan. There is great synergy for one of the largest offline jeweller and one of the largest online jeweller to work together," said Mithun Sacheti, founder and CEO of Carat Lane.
"This would be a successful exit for Tiger Global," said Sacheti. However, he refused to reveal the revenue of the company, the stake Tiger Global held and the details of the acquisition by Titan.
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The company has raised four rounds of funds. The online jewellery company had raised $31 million in a Series-D round of funding from existing investor Tiger Global, early 2015. This was almost two years after it raised its Series-C round worth around $10 million from Tiger Global. It had raised $10-12 million in its first two rounds of funding, in 2011 and 2012, according earlier reports.
Carat Lane, incorporated in September, 2007, has sales through both e-commerce portal and physical stores. The Company has developed omni-channel capabilities and has currently 13 stores across the country with plans to ramp up the retail stores significantly in the future. It currently have stores in Bengaluru, Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Thane and Pune, according to the company website.
It claims to offer the largest collection of diamonds and diamond jewellery in the country and has customers from more than 150 cities and towns across the country. It claimis that its business model helps its customers save up to 25 per cent over retail prices.